England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has refrained their premier batsman Joe Root from participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year. They will be hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup next year and then the prestigious Ashes also follows in the same country for which the board wants their best cricketer to be fresh and available. However, they have granted him the permission to play in the Big Bash League (BBL) for Sydney Thunder along with Jos Buttler.

According to the reports in Dailymail, ECB and the team management is well aware of the heavy workloads on the players ahead of the gruelling 2019 home season which is the reason Root will not throw in his name for the IPL auction next year. He was one of the most discussed names this year but none of the eight franchises bid for him and England’s Test skipper went unsold.

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Root’s T20 credentials

Joe Root, as a T20 player, has always been doubted by the critics and his place in the national side is also under threat. He was dropped from the playing XI for the third and deciding T20 International against India recently and since then there have been talks of him playing only a couple of formats. However, Root himself is adamant over proving that he is as good a T20 batsman as he is in the other two forms of the game.

In a bid to prove the same, he has also signed a contract with Sydney Thunder franchise and will play 7 matches for them in the upcoming BBL season. He will be keen to make a statement with his scintillating batting in the competition and make the fans think about him as an able player in the shortest format as well.

Currently, Root has played 28 T20Is for his country and his strike-rate is not so encouraging at 128.59. Moreover, he has struggled to force the pace when it requires the most and it remains to be seen if he manages to meet the demands of T20 cricket.